


The Fall

by g33kyclassic



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern: Still Have Powers, Charles You Slut, Charles You Will Be Drunk, Gen, Honestly Charles What Are You Thinking, Hurt Charles, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Poor Charles, Raven how could you?, Raven is an interfering sister
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-29 08:50:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20432939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/g33kyclassic/pseuds/g33kyclassic
Summary: Written to fill the prompt: "Raven seduces Charles' boyfriends to "check they're faithful".  Charles finds out about Raven's sisterly interference and goes a bit off the deep end.





	The Fall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Akasanata](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akasanata/gifts).

> Please mind the tags. There is nothing explicit in this fic, but quite a bit implied. Reader be warned.

Charles tried to be angry at Raven. He really did. He knew (as a telepath, how could he not know?), that most people would have reacted with anger, or outright rage. Somehow, even all these years later with his mother and Kurt far away, hardly any influence left in his life, he could not help hearing their voices in his head; “You’ve brought this on yourself Charles.”, “This is all your own doing, young man.”. The anger, the shame, the pain of it all turned inward.

Charles slipped away from the door where he’d overheard Raven talking to Hank, tiptoeing without so much as a sound - thank goodness for thick carpets. The scene he’d just witnessed played over and over like a record stuck in an endless loop.

_“Well I have to make sure don’t I? That they really care for him.” Raven had explained. “Charles is such a horrible judge of character. He really is the worst telepath of all time.”_

_“Still,” Hank had protested. “Luring his boyfriends away from him, tempting them to cheat, on purpose...that seems a bit much.”_

_“Look, two of those guys wanted to sleep with me when I was a woman and told me they weren’t even really gay. If Charles can’t pick boyfriends who know their own sexuality, then he obviously needs my help. You wouldn’t want him to actually keep dating these men would you? They all cheated on him!”_

_“With you. Because you intentionally tried to lure them away. What if you hadn’t intervened? You never know everything might have been fine!”_

_“It wouldn’t have been fine, Hank. They’re CHEATERS. If they didn’t cheat with me, or whoever I was pretending to be, they would have cheated on Charles with someone else. They are scum.”_

_“If you say so.”_

_“I do say so. I’m protecting my brother, like any good sister would.”_

_“I feel the ethics of this situation are rather...murky.”_

_“Whatever, Hank. I am a great sister. A loving, protective, thoughtful sister who wants only the best for Charles. And all his boyfriends have been awful, so I have no regrets.”_

Had all his boyfriends been so awful, Charles wondered? Perhaps they had. Luke had been quite self-obsessed. Really any man who needed to go to the gym every single day, and complained when they weren’t open on Christmas morning, was likely not the best match for Charles. Oliver had clearly been more interested in Charles’ money than anything else – he’d always looked happier after Charles gave him a present than he did after sex, which had been more than a little depressing. Peter, well Peter had a small...appendage...and Charles was certain he would have broken things off with him even without Raven’s ‘helpful’ interference.

It was difficult to remember all the times he’d caught his boyfriend’s cheating, or had to listen to their admissions of having cheated, and realize that every single time his partner, the man he’d loved (or was at least hoping to love) had been kissing his sister. Best not to think about it too deeply.

Hank, of course, had a point – perhaps the cheating never would have occurred without Raven forcing the issue. Which, of course, was where the anger should have come in. But Raven had a point too, they may well have cheated anyway, they could have already cheated before Raven’s seductions for all Charles knew – and that, that was where the self doubt came crashing through.

It seemed, and really how had Charles not realized this before, that he simply was not very lovable. He was not worth someone’s commitment, their devotion, or their undivided affection. Charles, by himself, was not enough. His mother had certainly known, and his step-father. Apparently even Raven knew Charles was lacking, why else would she have done what she’d done? Why else would she have had such success?

Clearly, it was time to give up dating, to give up the fanciful idea of finding ‘the one’. It was simply a waste of his time.

* * *

Charles spent the next six months devoting himself to casual encounters, one-night stands, fuck buddies, and random hook-ups.

He also spent very little time with Raven, though if anyone asked he would have vehemently denied it was intentional.

Casual sex was...empty and meaningless. It burned at Charles’ heart and ate at his soul. To go through with it, to make himself into the person he needed to be to flirt outrageously and tempt men who would clearly otherwise overlook him, he drank. He drank a lot. He drank copious amounts of fruity drinks with little umbrellas and sexually charged names. He was reckless and wild.

It worked. Though, honestly he didn’t much like himself in the morning.

He still got up and did it all again the next weekend. And the weekend after that. And the weekend after that.

Eventually it had to start feeling right, either that or it had to end.

It ended. To be precise it crashed into a heap of of drunken excess and drug induced haziness. 

It ended in with Charles being shaken awake by a troubled looking young woman in the very dirty bathroom of a club who’s name he couldn’t remember.

“Are you okay?” 

Charles peered up at the young woman through heavy lids that couldn’t seem to open completely. His head was pounding, his telepathy muted to nothing more than a whisper, and he wasn’t completely sure he could stand if he tried.

“I’m fine.” He winced at the croak of his own voice.

“Yeah, I’m not buying that.” The young woman replied pointedly. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

Charles felt at his pockets and found them empty.

“Would I be able to use your phone?” Charles asked with a wince. “I seem to have misplaced mine.”

“Took your stuff, huh? Assholes. Come out to the front, you can use the phone at the bar. I don’t really have much money I can lend you -”

“No, no, I don’t need any money.” Charles rushed to interrupt. “I...I’m sure someone can come and pick me up.”

“You know...” The women began hesitantly, “you should probably use my phone. You...you’re not going to want to go out there.”

“I look that bad, do I?” Charles said with an embarrassed smiled.

“Yeah. You look...well, make your call and see for yourself.” 

She held out her phone and Charles took it. He dialed a number he hadn’t called in months, crossed his fingers and hoped for an answer.

Raven picked up after six long rings.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Raven. It’s Charles.”

“What the fuck are you calling me for at five in the morning?”

“I need you to come get me.”

“Come get you...are you in some kind of trouble Charles? Are you hurt?” 

Charles could hear the sounds of movement through the phone and the edge of panic in Raven’s voice.

“I’m fine.” He answered. “I just...someone stole my phone and my wallet at a club and I need a ride home.”

“Where are you?”

Ah, good question. Charles took the phone away from his face momentarily and smiled his best charming smile at the young woman currently staring down at him.

“Where am I, exactly?” He whispered.

He wasn’t exactly surprised by the sad look the woman gave him as she recited the name of the club and its address. Charles was more than a little depressed to realize he was quite so far away from his home in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It would likely take Raven the better part of an hour to come get him. He sighed. There was nothing for it, he had no one else to turn to who cared enough to come get him and had a car.

Charles got back on the phone and gave Raven the address. He had to pull the phone away from his ear when she yelled at him for being an idiot and making ridiculous choices and why would go to some club that was almost outside the city, etc. etc.

“You’ll come get me though.” He ventured when her tirade ended.

“Yes, you fool. I’m almost down to the parking garage. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Charles hung up and handed the phone back to the young lady, and thanked her profusely for her kindness. She nodded, gave him one more sad, troubled look and then left.

Alone, Charles managed to heave himself up off the floor, though not without a great deal of effort. His limbs were stiff and sore as if he’d spent a good portion on the evening stuck in a very uncomfortable position, which frankly seemed quite likely.

One look in the mirror was all it took to understand why the young female employee had thought he might not want to come out of the bathroom. Charles was absolutely covered in...things. He was almost certain a great deal of the sticky, multicoloured stains on his shirt were from various types of alcohol. However, he also had to admit that the crunchy, dried substance in his hair was most certainly not alcohol. He immediately turned on the tap and stuck his head under the bathroom sink. There was no way in hell he was going to have Raven pick his up from a club with come stuck in his hair. He had some dignity after all.

After washing his hair as best he could, Charles decided it was best to try the same with his shirt. He winced as he struggled out of his white v-neck shirt, his muscles protesting each movement. He succeeded in the end, and ran the shirt under hot water for several minutes before wringing it out and sticking it under the hair dryer in an attempt to dry it out.

As he held his shirt under the air flow, he took a quick glance at his torso and discovered he was covered in bruises, many of which bore the distinct look of finger prints. His neck was worse than anything, absolutely covered in great purple bruise and teeth marks, one of which appeared to have broken the skin.

Charles found himself shaking at the sight and the realization he had no idea how he’d gotten any of the marks. A wave of nausea hit him like a freight train and he stumbled into the nearest stall and vomited violently.

What in the world had he done? How could have have let himself fall this far, spiral to such an incredible low point? Waking up in a bathroom with no memory of the night before was appalling and terrifying. As a telepath, he was generally cursed with excellent recall of people and events. He couldn’t remember anything about the night before beyond accepting a particularly large slushy drink from a man at the bar. Which meant, dammit, that he had more than likely been drugged. Lovely.

When Raven arrived he was going to get her to drive him directly home, where he could have a very, very hot shower, and he was immediately heading to the nearest clinic for testing. And he was never, ever doing this again. Ever.

Forty five minutes later, almost on the dot, the kind young lady from earlier poked her head into the bathroom and let him know his ride was here. By that time Charles shirt was still stained, but mostly dry and smelled slightly less of alcohol and...other things. Charles took one last look at himself, the damp hair, the dark circles under his eyes, the mass of bruises on his neck and prepared himself for an epic dressing down from his sister.

Her absolute stunned silence when she saw him was somehow a million times worse. Raven always had something to say and to think his behaviour had literally shocked her into silence was a clear message unto itself. Charles had crossed a line that even Raven had no response to.

The silence lasted almost until they reached Charles’ apartment building.

“Charles...” Raven’s voice was barely audible above the low level volume of the radio. “what are you...what do you need me to do?”

Charles sighed. “I’m going to go upstairs and clean myself up. Then I need to head to the clinic. You’re...” He closed his eyes, hesitant to make the offer, but determined to push onward, “you’re welcome to come with me if you like. But I’m fully capable of taking care of myself if you’re busy.”

“Fully capable...” Raven whipped her head around to stare at Charles as she parked down the street from his building. “Charles have you seen yourself? You look atrocious. You look...I’ve never seen you look like this in my life. I will take you to the clinic. I will take you to a therapist. I will take you anywhere and do anything that will guarantee I never, ever see you like this again. This is scary Charles. You’re scaring me.”

“I’m sorry.” Charles said, reaching out to touch Raven’s hand. “I made a mistake. It’s not going to happen again.”

“I’ve barely seen you in six month Charles. Has it been six months worth mistakes? Six months of morning like this that I didn’t know about?”

Charles felt crushed under the helpless look in her eyes. The truth was the last six months had been full of out of character behaviour and more than a few risky choices. Nothing compared to the past 24 hours though.

“I...I’ve had a rough go of it lately. I was trying to be someone...else.” Charles said, meeting Raven’s gaze directly. “I was trying to be someone who’s sister didn’t feel she had to vet their boyfriends because they were a shit judge of character. I was trying to be someone who’s boyfriends didn’t all cheat on him with said shapeshifting sister.” He finally admitted.

“Oh. Oh, Charles.” Raven’s eyes teared up, though in typical fashion, she somehow held them at bay. “I didn’t know...you weren’t supposed to know.”

“I know. But I found out and I thought...I thought I should try something different.”

Raven huffed. “So you decided not to judge anyone’s character at all and just sleep with any man with a pulse. That’s a brilliant choice Charles.”

Charles winced as Raven struck him firmly on the arm.

“Promise me you will never do ‘casually reckless’ again Charles. Promise me you’ll just go back to being you. The real, genuine you that I, and anyone worth your time, will love.”

“I promise to never do casually reckless again.” Charles agree readily.

They exited the car and walked slowly to Charles’ building where they were greeted by a surprised, but doing he best to hide it, doorman who had known Charles since he was sixteen and starting college. Charles felt himself flush from the roots of his to the collar of his shirt.

When Charles finally got upstairs and opened his front door he felt a wave of relief: home, safety, comfort.

Raven however, wasn’t quite done.

“You didn’t promise the last bit Charles. You didn’t promise to be your genuine lovable self again.” She said with a teasing smile.

“No I didn’t.” Charles agreed. “I think...I think after everything, the last six months, my inability to have a loving committed relationship with a man who won’t cheat on me, I think I can admit the truth: I am simply not fit for romantic consumption. That man, that ‘lovable’ man you think me to be? He doesn’t exist.”

Charles turned on his heel and headed for his room. He took a long hot shower. He went to the clinic and got tested and waited none too patiently before he finally received a clean bill of health. He moved on with his life. If that life was now a perpetually lonely single life, he told himself he simply didn’t care. He told himself he didn’t care so much, he almost believed it.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the Intro part in what will become a series. 
> 
> The series will continue with a Cherik focused fic showing how Charles eventually recovers from the events in this fic, although not until after 5 years of self imposed monk-like celibacy.


End file.
